Lazy Sunday + A Brutally Honest Review - POM

Hola Bloggies:

How was your weekend loves? We spent our Saturday largely doing wedding stuff and other random chores, which of course meant that we felt fully entitled to relax on Sunday. Woohoo for lazy Sundays!

It was crazy hot here in the Rocky Mountains combine that with the intense sun and it was blistering up in the casa. To seek some relief we decided to back some cherries and blueberries, water, a massive sub for sharing (bought at our local Safeway on the way out of town) and head out to a local lake. This was the first time we attempted to do anything like this since getting Daisy. Little did we know how difficult it would be for us to find a lake that would allow us to bring our puppy to the shore.

We tried multiple parks and no luck. So eventually we ended up heading down a forest service road and finding a remote lake in the mountains. A pristine mountain lake with no rules? Bonus!

The weather up at the lake turned out to be much cooler than down in the city, mostly by virtue of a subtle but continuous breeze.

I purchased the cherries at the local farmer’s market on Saturday. While it would be cheaper to purchase them at a grocery store (where they would likely come from Washington State) I chose to buy produce grown in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

The sandwich was something we had to purchase since I never keep the necessary ingredients at home. I know most people consider bread a stable but I seldom keep any around; mostly because if it’s there I’ll eat it all a lot.

It wasn’t the healthiest option but it did the job. I picked off the salami and had two small pieces. Plenty to keep me full. I don’t know about you but I just don’t get very hungry in the crazy hot weather.

Once we finished our meal we walked around the lake and went for a dip in the water. It was so refreshing and perfect for a lazy Sunday!

A little bit later in the evening we headed out to see Inception. It was kind of trippy and a bit of the Matrix meets James Bond. Overall it was really good and made you question reality. That’s basically my measure of a good movie – does it leave you thinking afterwards? This one sure did!

 

A POM Review and GIVEAWAY

 

Some time ago I received coupons for free bottles of POM from their very gracious manufacturers. I kind of heart me some POM so I was thrilled at the opportunity to officially review the product for the blog.

 

I still remember the first time I heard about pomegranate juice, it was while I was talking to some Persian friends in High School. I was told Iranians swore by the health benefits of pomegranates. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what would be so great about those small little seeds. And how in the world did they manage to get juice out of those things anyways!?!?

Back then I wasn’t really interested in healthy living so it wasn’t until some years had passed that I learned the Persians had a good thing going! POM juice is made up of 100% pomegranate juice; which means it’s absolutely jammed pack with antioxidants. Current research seems to indicate that antioxidants help to prevent oxidization in our bodies and as such may help protect us from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes (amongst others).

Many people turn to red wine for its antioxidant content. Indeed, there’s this whole school of thought that attributes the health of the French, despite their diets high in indulgences, to their red wine consumption; this is known as the French Paradox. Well it turns out that POM contains a higher antioxidant count then even red wine!

For my review I took two of the coupons I was sent and used them to purchase two flavours I had never tried.

First up was POM Kiwi. I wasn’t sure how the kiwi would stand up against the pomegranates. Overall I would say that the kiwi gave the POM a slightly increased tanginess which was distinctly different from the usual POM taste. The flavour of the kiwi was distinctly prominent.

The next flavour I tried was the POM with mango. Also a first for me. This flavour seemed to lessen the usual tartness of the POM juice but overall it seemed to get lost in the juice. I would recommend this flavour to those that find POM juice a little too tart in its original flavour.

Now I’m not going to pretend that POM juice is cheap – that it is not. But like organic produce or free-range products, I consider POM an investment in my health. Whenever possible I keep a bottled on hand. And I figure since it’s so jammed pack with antioxidants, a little can go a long way. While I know a lot of people drink their POM juice in shot glass portions I tend to make mocktails out of POM Wonderful.

Start out with your POM flavour of choice and a bit of club soda. Don’t forget a lovely glass.

Pour a bit of POM juice into the bottom of your glass. I was generous with my pour.

Top the rest off with club soda and enjoy your delicious drink. If you’re feeling particularly fancy pants, feel free to add a slice of lime to your glass or maybe some raspberries. And if you’re having a party, don’t forget to add a splash of vodka.

Overall Review? I absolutely LOVE POM juice! It’s one of my go-to healthy food splurges and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to my readers. If you don’t do it for the taste then at least do it for your health.

And here’s the GIVEAWAY part – I have two coupons for free POM juice to give away to one lucky reader. To enter all you have to do is comment on this entry. Contest closes on Friday, July 30th 2010 at 8AM PST. Best of luck bloggies!

Question: Have you ever tried POM juice? Did you like it?

Brunch? Yes Please! (Sunshine Cafe, Rossland)

Hola Bloggies:

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! It’s been very hot in my AC-less corner of the world. But rather than complain about the heat I embraced it instead. I spent a good chunk of my Saturday doing physical activities that worked up a sweat – Zumba + watering my co-workers lard yard and garden + detailing my car. Well done me!

Sunshine Cafe, Rossland

Once in a long while I like to indulge in a leisurely weekend brunch. And when I do, one of my favourite dishes is French Toast! Yum!

If you and I have ever talked about French Toast you’ve surely heard me say that challah bread makes the best ones (with brioche following in a close second place). I may have to re-visit that list to add a close third place for sourdough bread.

Recently, I found myself in Rossland, British Columbia for work. It wasn’t a completely uneventful trip – I was there to attend court and realized late at night in the middle of the mountains that I had completely forgotten work shoes!!!

The only shoes I had were my running shoes (I was planning for an early morning run) and a summery pair of pink flowered flip-flops. I was horrified at the thought of having to wear either to court. Problem was that there was only one shoe store in the whole town and it didn’t open until after I was set to start my trial. Uh oh.

The morning of court I woke up super early and decided to scrap my early morning run in the hopes of resolving my shoe crisis. At first I considered driving to a bigger city to buy a suitable pair of shoes but that wouldn’t work. I would never make it back in time. So the hotel tried calling the owner of the shoe store to get her to open her store early. Unfortunately they couldn’t find her number so that didn’t work either. Eventually,they loaned me a pair of mules from their lost and found. I was ever so grateful for the shoes even if they did show an awful lot of my toes.

The mules weren’t perfect but I decided to head to court. I pulled up, parked my car, and started to approach the front door. And that’s when I noticed a camera crew there to cover another trial. The last thing I needed was camera footage of my woefully inappropriate shoes. So I ran back to my car and kept scouring the town. And that’s when I found the thrift store. They were closed but I knocked on the door and begged the little old lady to let me in early. She obliged and I headed to their shoe section where I managed to score a fairly cute pair of work appropriate shoes for the bargain price of $2! Crisis solved!!!

Given my shoe crisis I didn’t get a chance to have a proper breakfast, which made for one mungry (mad+hungry) Karen come lunch-time. Rossland is a pretty small place with a limited number of lunch options. So I walked into the first place I saw – Sunshine Cafe.

The postage sized Sunshine Cafe turned out to be an absolute and unexpected gem! Somehow, in the middle of a small mountain town I had found a cafe specializing in gluten-free meals and baking. Even though it looked small and relatively new it had been around for over 50 years. After eating my meal I could totally see how it had lasted for so long!

There were so many delicious options on their menu it made choosing my meal very hard indeed. Eventually I settled on a build your own breakfast featuring two poached eggs, French Toast with strawberries and bananas, and a ham steak. I think my hunger got away with me on that one! lol

 

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see such a gorgeous plate! The eggs were perfectly cooked, the ham was delicious, and the French Toast . . . amazing!!

They may not have been made out of challah. They weren’t even made out of brioche. But the sourdough came through in a pinch. Noted.

I guess it just goes to show you – never underestimate a restaurant by it’s small-town location. Oh, and never ever forget to pack work appropriate shoes on a business trip!

 

Question: What is your favourite brunch dish?

Ciabatta Perfection – A Recipe

Hola Bloggies:

I think by now we’ve established I have a genuine love for bread. Truth be told, I don’t know many other bloggers that have “bread” as a tag on their posts!

My favourite breads are slightly rustic and in a European style. In fact, one of the things I miss most about Europe is the ability to walk to the bakery in the morning and buy a wonderful loaf of fresh bread. In Canada, one either has to rely on a quality small scale bakery (few and far between in my Rocky Mountain town), make the bread one’s self, or depend on the kindness of others.

I chose the later.

On a recent weekend afternoon I was very fortunate to receive a call from one of my co-workers. He had made some ciabatta and wanted to bring some for us to try. This would be the same co-worker who made the delicious caramel ice-cream a few weeks back. I had loved the ice-cream and knew I would love the bread. So I did what any sensible blogger would do – I happily accepted.

Pretty soon, my oh so kind co-worker was at my door bearing the most amazing ciabatta seen this side of Italy. I kid you not, these buns were truly a work of art. I was very impressed by their lovely lightly floured exterior. But it wasn’t until I cut open one of the buns that I literally squealed with delight!!!

Look at those air bubbles!!!! They were so lovely!!! Needless to say they gave the bread an absolutely light and airy texture. Swoon.

 

I have to confess I quickly broke-out the butter. Quickly (and happily I may add) it joined the ciabatta in a wonderful marriage of flavours. I was in carbohydrate heaven.

Somehow I managed to pry myself away from the butter and use part of the bread to make a sandwich.

Closer.

 

I assure you this was some of the best bread I have had in a very very very long time. Thankfully, my co-worker was good enough to share the recipe so you bloggies could replicate this deliciousness at home! The original of this recipe was created Jason Molina in the alt.bread.recipes group.

 

Jason’s Quick Cocodrillo Ciabatta Bread (source)

Variation 1

500g bread flour

475g water

2tsp yeast

15g salt

 

Variation 2 – Semolina

350g bread flour

150g semolina flour

475-485g water

2tsp yeast

15g salt

 

1) In Kitchen Aid style mixer: Mix all ingredients roughly till combined with paddle, let it rest for 10 minutes.

2) With the paddle (I prefer the hook to prevent the dough from crawling into the guts of the mixer), beat the living hell out of the batter, it will start out like pancake batter  but in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes it will set up and work like a very sticky dough. if it starts climbing too soon, then switch to the hook. You'll know it's done when it separates from the side of the bowl and starts to climb up your hook/paddle and just coming off the bottom of the bowl. I mean this literally about the climbing, i once didn't pay attention and it climbed up my paddle into the greasy inner workings of the mixer. It was not pretty! Anyway, it will definitely pass the windowpane test.

3) Place into a well oiled container and let it triple! it must triple! For me this takes about 2.5 hours

4) Empty on to a floured counter (scrape if you must, however you gotta get the gloop out), cut into 3 or 4 pieces. Spray with oil and dust with lots o' flour. Let them proof for about 45 minutes, which gives you enough time to crank that oven up to 500F.

5) After 45 minutes or so the loaves should be puffy and wobbly, now it's iron fist, velvet glove time. Pick up and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10" oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment or a heavily floured peel. Try to do it in one motion and be gentle, it might look like you've ruined them completely, but the oven spring is immense on these things.

6) Bake at 500F until they are 205F in the center (about 15-20 minutes), rotating 180 degrees half way through. Some people like to turn the oven down to 450F after 10 minutes, but whatever floats your boat. I usually bake in 2 batches.

Question: Have you ever tried baking bread at home?

A Brutally Honest Review: Dempster’s Oven Fresh Bread

Hola Bloggies:

I’ve missed all of you!!!!! Seriously, it’s been a crazy busy week and I’ve had so much to tell you peeps but no time to do it in. But no worries – I’m back!

This week you can look forward to some clean eats and workout recaps, my epic Ironman CDA re-cap (life altering – seriously), some product reviews, a giveaway, and the start of my half marathon training. That’s right – this Toronto Girl out West is going to run herself a Half-Mary in Long Beach this October, 17th!!!

Am I excited!?!? UH HUH! I’m looking forward to pushing myself and seeing just how I handle that bad boy. Who knows, maybe it will be the beginning of a long distance running love affair. Toronto Girl Runs Far. Has a ring to it, doesn’t it!? Ha! Loves.

 

A Brutally Honest Review

A seriously long time ago Some time ago the friendly people at Dempster’s were good enough to send me a package loaded full of bread. I took one look at the very generous package sent by the company and knew I just had to share! So I took half of what was sent to me (2 multigrain baguettes and 2 white baguettes) and passed them on to a co-worker to review. But more on that later.

Dempster's is a totally familiar brand to most Canadians. It’s basically the Wonder Bread equivalent for Canadians. Recently, they decided to launch a line of partially baked breads (OvenFresh). I know I’ve bought similar products in the past but they always had to be refrigerated. Not so with the OvenFresh variety – they come vacuum packed and are sold in the bread aisle. No refrigeration needed. I consider that a definite bonus as it makes it easier to transport the bread.

Cooking the product is pretty easy. You pop it in the oven for eight minutes and it’s done. Easy peasy.

Now as a healthy living blogger you know I checked the nutritional stats. Half a multigrain baguette has 160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 340 grams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, and 7 grams of protein. The ingredient list for the multigrain baguettes includes enriched wheat flour, whole wheat flour, sunflower seeds, millet, and sodium steardyl-2-lactylate.

By contrast, half a white baguette has 180 calories, 2 grams of fat, 390 grams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of protein. The ingredient list for the white baguette includes enriched wheat flour (no whole wheat flour this time), malted barley flour, natural and artificial flavours, and modified wheat starch.

To test the white baguette I made one of the recipes that came with my media package. Specifically, the Garlic Bread with Asiago Cheese.

Garlic Bread with Asiago Cheese

1 Clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp soft butter

1 tbsp chopped chives

1 tbsp chopped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 Dempster’s OvenFresh White or Multigrain Baguette

1/4 cup crumbled asiago cheese

 

 

If you’re paying attention you’ll notice that I substituted the butter with Earth Balance and managed to forget the chives. Ooops! I added some dried herbs at the end instead.

While the oven preheated to 400F I combined the garlic, Earth Balance, herbs, and sundried tomatoes in a bowl.

I then cut vertical slits in the baguette almost to the bottom. After placing the baguette on the baking sheet I spooned the “butter” mixture over the top of the bread making sure to get the mixture in between each of the cuts.

Afterwards I topped the baguette with Asiago cheese. Yum! I then popped the bread in the oven for eight minutes until the cheese looked all melty and happy happy happy!

I cooked up this recipe while the fiancé's parents and nephew were visiting and they declared it an absolute hit. The “butter” and cheese made the bread soft and delicious. And the Asiago lent it a sophisticated flavour. It would have been even better had I used fresh herbs. Next time.

To test the multigrain bread I made sandwiches. They were good and went over really well with everyone that ate them. I liked how the bread was warm after being in the oven. It made if feel “fresh.” Unfortunately, it also seemed to cool down fairly quickly. This was likely due to a combination of the fillings and the fact that you weren’t actually baking the bread.

As for my co-worker, she packed her baguettes and took them to feed her nieces and nephews during a family ski trip. The bread was a hit with that group as well! Mostly because it allowed them to have oven fresh bread without having to worry about baking it or buying a new baguette everyday.

Now for the bottom line . . .

Would I recommend this product? I have mixed feelings.

Hear me out. I love how the bread is long lasting without needing refrigeration. I love how you can bake it up for that oven fresh taste. I love how it is much more convenient than baking your own or heading to the store. I love how it’s definitely a step-up in flavour and texture from your average grocery store product. And the garlic bread recipe was delicious but I don’t think you can really go wrong adding cheese, “butter”, and garlic to bread. It’s basically a guaranteed win – so I can’t let that be the deciding factor.

Truth be told it was the ingredient list that caused me the greatest concern. Sure the nutritional stats were good but that means nothing if I can’t pronounce some of the stuff they put in the bread. I would still be willing to overlook that if only both products hadn’t chosen to use enriched wheat flour. The problem lies in the fact that enriched flour is basically flour stripped of it’s nutritional goodness and reduced to an extremely simple carbohydrate form. They then add some of the good stuff they took out back in, thereby making it “enriched.” You may as well be eating plain white flour which is okay if that’s what you’re looking for but if you’re trying to eat complex carbohydrates it’s not the greatest of choices.

I guess what I’m saying is you have to take the product for what it is. A quick and easy way to have oven fresh bread at home. Your kids will love it and if you make the garlic bread recipe you’ll love it too. Just please, don’t think it’s uber healthy. A nutritional powerhouse it is not.

I frankly won’t be buying this product again. But at least if you consider buying it, you now have my brutally honest review.

The Sound that Made me Remember

Hola Bloggies:

I’ve heard it said that sometimes memories are triggered by smells but this morning mine were triggered by sound.

I was awakened this morning by the noise of construction, traffic, beeping, and people talking. Given that I hadn’t slept very well, you’d think I’d be annoyed. But I have to confess I wasn’t. Instead I enjoyed the slight breeze coming from the open window and allowed my mind to wander . . .

(source)

It took me to my time spent in Paris; I lived on Boulevard Saint Michel, one of the main arteries running through the Latin Quarter. The foyer I lived in was housed in a very old building. I don’t know if you’ve ever had occasion to spend a significant amount of time in a building centuries old but they don’t generally have great ventilation. If I left my room locked up for any period of time it would become really musty. To remedy this problem, little grates were built into the exterior walls of the building; when opened they left a small whole completely open (and directly I may add) to the street.

As a result of my little grate, every morning I was treated to the sounds of the city coming alive. I could hear the university students laughing with each other on the way to class, the workers gossiping about the daily news, the sounds of cars whizzing by, and even the older gentleman who liked to whistle classical tunes on his walk. This last fellow was a staple of my everyday life in Paris.

I loved those sounds.

This morning I found myself thousands of miles from the City of Lights. But for an instant, if I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds I was back there all over again. Twenty-two. A student. Loving every second. On Boulevard Saint Michel.

 

 

The Eats

Yesterday’s eats were pretty delicious! I was kind of proud of my clean eating self!

Cue the Breaky . . .

 

My breakfast happily (tee-hee) included my usual chia, banana, almond butter, oatmeal base with the exception that this morning I chose to add half a tablespoon of coconut oil and a sprinkling of shredded coconut. With some carob chips for added effect. Overall it was pretty delicious but I still heart my maple butter concoction just a little bit more.

Cue lunch . . .

Monday court took me a bit further afield from home. Instead, of eating out (at the delicious but not really good for me Italian restaurant) I opted to pack my own lunch. In my trusty container I packed 2 cups of greens, four pieces of oven roasted chicken, two eggs, half a tomato, a handful of sugar snap peas, nutritional yeast, and a bit of balsamic-olive oil-mustard vinaigrette.

As delicious as my lunch was I did learn one lesson: it’s not a good idea to eat in the car then drive for hours. It’s a pretty sure fire way to make yourself nauseous. Next time I’ll make sure it’s not quite as much of a lunch on the go.

 

Cue Snack Face Time . . .

 

Notice how I took a picture of my cherries in the car? I’ll confess these were actually eaten while driving (although I was stopped when I took the picture – I’m not that crazy). I don’t know about you loves but I totally look forward to cherry season!!!

 

Cue Dinner . . .

This was volume eating at it’s finest!!! I’m justifiably proud of how fantastic dinner was last night. First I tossed a quarter of a red pepper, a quarter of a yellow pepper, and half a baby eggplant in aged balsamic vinegar and parsley flakes. I grilled all the lovely veg. along with one Amy’s California burger (my favourite veggie burger!). I paired my cooked ingredients with a handful of sugar snap peas and three strawberries.

I was so full after eating all of this – but in a really good way. Although I knew I wouldn’t need to eat for the rest of the evening I still felt light and energetic. Clearly volume eating is where it’s at boys and girls!

This clean eating thing is going really well. And I have to confess I think it’s getting easier. Bonus.

Join me tomorrow for a Healthy Mexican Tortilla Soup recipe and a recap of P90X days 2 and 3.

 

 

Question: I have a bit of a dilemma bloggies. My regularly scheduled Monday dog hike has been rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Problem is it’s at the same time as the Zumba class that I’ve been trying to get to for weeks. It never seems to fit it in with my schedule and this week was finally going to be the week I could attend! Did I mention it will be my first time doing Zumba. What would you do if you were me? Go on the doggy hike (the Fiancé could take Daisy on a hike during the day instead) or go to Zumba!? Help!!!

The First Market Day of the Season

Hola Bloggies:

I hope your Monday is treating you wonderfully!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, yesterday Daisy and I hit up the local farmers market. Given that it was the first market day of the season, we were particularly thrilled to be out enjoying the sunshine and buying lovely goodies with everyone else.

 

The market was held in the central plaza of a Bavarian themed town. It’s kitschy but it works; this particular town is mega-popular with tourists (especially in the winter and during the accordion festival).

All kinds of vendors were out hawking their wares. But in the end it was clear who stole the show – the fruit and veggie purveyors.

Love.

While I was at the market, one of the vendors suggested I check out a nearby health foods store. It sounded like the kind of place I would absolutely love so I wandered over.

 

Sprout turned out be fantastic. There were all kinds of products I had never even heard of before. I was one happy blogger.

My loot.

Sure I came home $60 (!) poorer than I started the day but I consider it an investment in my health. Given the choice, I’ve decided to support local organic producers.

 

Do you make it a habit to visit farmer’s markets? If yes, have they already started in your area?